Monday, 15 September 2014

So while I was sorting through my old, old bits boxes, a small piece of yellowish paper fell onto my desk. Now, most people wouldn't have picked it up and stared at it for a good few minutes in silent reverence. I did. It was my old Vortex of Chaos:

This little circle somehow holds a ton of memories and to me encapsulates hundreds of hours playing, collecting and painting miniatures back when 3rd edition was the best thing in the world. And now, with the advent of Oldhammer all over the Internet which has made me dive back into the old miniatures, this little swirling circle seems to be something of both the past and present, and perhaps even the future.

One of the clearest memories the Vortex made resurface in my addled brain happened at a Warhammer 3rd ed competition more than two decades ago. Now, for those of you who may not know the spell, once cast it released a small circle of absolute doom. Moving a random distance each turn, everything it touched was sucked into the warp and removed from play. But this wasn't the most devastating spell in the game. No, there was a "Multiple Vortex of Chaos" version wherein (if I remember correctly) the (very brave) wizard unleashed 1d6 Vortexes of Chaos.

At the aforementioned competition I fielded an army of Giants. Well, technically speaking it was a Norse Warhird, but there were a ton of Giants in it - four or five if I remember correctly.

These Giants were the main hammer of the army and I felt confident they would easily destroy the opposition. And a short note here: In Denmark, at least, 3rd Ed. was also played very aggressively - something not often spoken about in Oldhammer conversations - but we had several "PowerPlayers" and several of us wanted to win and constructed hard-hitting armies to do just that.

Anyways, my Giants all went down one flank to be in a position to flank charged by turn three and roll up the enemy army. Then disaster struck. Multiple times. An evil sorcerer, mounted on a flying carpet or something similar, flew up to my Big Guys and successfully unleashed Chaos. Multiple Times. And with that devasting spell all my giants were sucked into the warp and I learned some important lessons concerning putting all your eggs in one basket, how the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and, most importantly, the need to kill all wizards on sight...

So, that was the strongest memory the Vortex brought back to me (and how I still miss those Giants....) - how about you? Have you ever been on the receiving end of a barrage of Vortexes or have you enjoyed removing your opponent's best units with this little nasty spell? I would love to hear you story!